Spring 2013 - University Honors College - University at Buffalo

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Patrick S. BroadwaterSr. Copywriter/Editor,Undergraduate AdmissionsOn the Front Linesof Cyber DefenseBich Vu is no longer in ROTC, but she is still in training to defendher country.Vu, a senior Honors student, is enrolled in the Advanced Certificatein Information Assurance program at the University at Buffalo,a graduate program offered through the Center of Excellencein Information Systems, Assurance, Research and Education(CEISARE) aimed at developing expert defenders to protect theUnited States from cyber attack.A Vietnam native, Vu came to the U.S. at age 9 and quicklydeveloped a deep attachment for her adopted country. By the timeshe matriculated at UB, she had joined the Army ROTC programand Pershing Rifles organization at nearby Canisius College. Butshe also had a lifelong interest in computers and technology,which led her discover a way to provide protection in a completelydifferent manner.“I wanted to apply my skills in another way,” said Vu, who ismajoring in computer engineering, electrical engineering andmath. “I guess there is a little bit of fear in me that there are a lot ofpotential things that people can do to harm us. So, I think that wasmy motivation.”“It’s great to make products and develop new things and create newinventions, but we need security systems to protect us and makesure that people don’t use those things for bad purposes. I kind ofgravitated toward security because in order to have the great thingsthat we do, we need to be able to protect them somehow.”Vu’s participation in the program is aided by a $1.6 million federalgrant provided to UB in 2012 by the National Science Foundation.The grant provides stipends, tuition and fees and associated book,travel and health insurance expenses for up to 16 students over itsfour-year lifespan. In exchange, students who participate in thetraining – usually for two years – must agree to work for the federalgovernment for an equal number of years after they graduate.“We have thousands of positions open in the government forpeople in this field. There aren’t enough trained people incybersecurity to protect everything,” said Shambhu Upadhyaya,director of CEISARE, one of more than 100 federally designatedtraining centers in the U.S. “The whole idea of this scholarshipis to get enough students who are interested in this topic –computer security – and have them join the federal workforce atthe national level.”Cybersecurity is a growing area of concern within the corridorsof power. Hackers and other malevolent groups, such as terroristorganizations, pose a serious threat to U.S. national security due tothe increasingly online nature of key infrastructure systems. Anyvulnerability in electrical grids, transportation systems, financialsystems and military installations can be found and exploited bythese groups, causing mass disruption, panic or even physical orhuman damage.“It’s a big problem because the Internet is open. There is noaccountability. It’s just driving with no speed limits, basically,”said Upadhyaya. “So people abuse, attack, break into accounts andnetworks. If you leave any vulnerability, someone will find it.”UB’s information assurance program trains defenders of thosesystems. The program is open to master’s level students. To earn thecertificate in information assurance, students must complete therequisite courses – 14 to 15 hours of coursework in areas such ascryptology and wireless network security – and also participate inweekly research group meetings, attend at least one conference incybersecurity and work on an ongoing research project.“What we do is equip them with the basics,” Upadhyaya said. “Wecover the fundamentals, some applications and they do some handsonwork. They learn all of the skills so then they can apply them.”Students who are part of the NSF grant program are then funneledinto the federal workforce, going on to join such agencies asthe FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, the SecuritiesExchange Commission and the Federal Trade Commission.The NSF Federal Cyber Service Awards program began in 2001,and the next year UB earned center designation status, allowing itto qualify for program funding. After three unsuccessful proposals,Upadhyaya and his colleagues, H. Raghav Rao from the School ofManagement; Tom Cusick from the Department of Mathematics;and Mark Bartholomew from the School of Law, received theirfirst multiyear award in 2008. That grant of $860,000 allowed UBto train 11 students over four years. By then, the center had beenfairly well established and had hosted a workshop for the local10u n i v e r s i t y a t B U F F A L o
community and NSF officials. But, according to Upadhyaya, theuniversity’s strategic location also played a factor. Home to oneof only 16 regional computer forensics labs in the country andsituated on an international border, Buffalo was a selling point ingetting the grant proposal approved.And when it came time to apply for a renewal in 2012, Upadhyayaand UB highlighted the benefits of that location as well as the trackrecord of success of the first cohort group. The result was a grantnearly twice as large as the previous award.“It’s like, ‘If I am going to give you more money, show me whatyou did with the money I gave you earlier,’” Upadhyaya said ofthe renewal process. “I know that some of my colleagues at otherschools didn’t get their scholarship renewed simply because theydidn’t do as good a job as us in terms of explaining what they haddone, showing the track record and inspiration for their growth.”One difference in the second grant proposal was the inclusionof a mechanism for including undergraduates in the program.Most, if not all, of UB’s information assurance work is done at themaster’s level. But Upadhyaya wanted a way to lock in talentedundergraduates like Vu who were interested in the program, sohe proposed that the NSF include funding for qualified BS/MSprojects and earn funding for college.“She prepared herself as an undergrad,” Upadhyaya said. “She wascoming to my research group meetings as a sophomore. I went toan Honors College lunch and talked about the scholarship. She wasjust a freshman at that time but it sounded interesting to her. Whenshe applied, she already had a good understanding of what the fieldis and where she was heading.”Good preparation is especially important for Vu, who as a foreignbornfemale is not the prototypical face of the U.S. cybersecurityforce. Like all candidates for the scholarship, Vu was interviewed toensure that she was likely to pass a background check and obtainthe necessary security clearances. But as a woman, she’s still aminority in the field. Among U.S. cybersecurity workers, malesoutnumber their female counterparts roughly 7 to 1, according to a2006 International Data Corporation survey.“We’re all in it together and we’re all working toward the goal,so it’s not about what gender you are,” Vu said. “I feel like it’ssomething I’ll definitely have to overcome, but I try not to let itstop me. Rather, I’ll show them how good I am. Then they can’tignore me.”We all live on the same planet, so whatever we dois going to have an impact on everyone else.students. Under the grant, BS/MS students get an additional yearof funding while they complete their undergraduate studies, butthen must complete an extra year of government service uponcompletion of the program.“I figured, well, when I graduate, I want to work for a federalagency anyway, so the requirement didn’t seem that bad,” said Vu,the first BS/MS student at UB to receive a three-year award. “I’mstill surprised. Sometimes I think there should be more that I needto do in order to satisfy the requirements of the program. But Ithink it’s great. They’re really open to you doing your own thingand learning in your own way.”For Vu, getting involved in the program was an easy decision. Andso was the decision to accept her. Not only had she excelled inthe classroom, but Vu was president of the UB Society of WomenEngineers, had studied abroad twice, was pursuing a minor inJapanese and had been involved in an engineering outreachprogram with Northrop Grumman while a student at Buffalo’sHutch Tech High School. In her junior and senior years, sheparticipated in the WORTHY program (Worthwhile to Help HighSchool Youth), where she was able to work on engineering-relatedVu has gotten plenty of support at UB along the way. She consultsregularly with Upadhyaya and Bina Ramamurthy, associateprofessor of computer science and engineering, and has worked asa teaching assistant for associate professor Carl Alphonce and theHonors College Colloquium, heading a team that volunteered atthe Gloria J. Parks Community Center.“Service learning and community service and being aware of thecommunity is a good focus, because that’s important and relevantin every field,” Vu said. “And that helped in the sense that, I’m notjust here to pursue a degree. I’m here to make an impact on mycommunity too. So whatever I do there’s a lot of possibilities for meto help those around me.”Which is exactly the reason that Vu got into the informationassurance program: to make a difference.“I want to know where we’re most vulnerable and how I cancontribute the most by researching in that one field, rather thanresearching something that is there and is convenient.“We all live on the same planet, so whatever we do is going to havean impact on everyone else.”N U M B E R X X X V I | S P R I N G 2 0 1 3 11
Page 8 and 9: I Am HospiceBethany (Arber) Calkins
Page 10 and 11: Talking About ARachel Lynn BrodyHon
Page 14 and 15: Jesse HanchettHonors ScholarClass o
Page 16 and 17: HonorsCollegeGoesCory NealonUB Repo
Page 18 and 19: Alumni UpdatesWhat they’re doing

Spring 2013 - University Honors College - University at Buffalo

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